Alpha Centauri is not actually a star. They are a star system consisting of three stars inside.
According to the United States Space Agency (NASA), the Alpha Centauri system has three stars, namely Proxima Centauri, Alpha Centauri A, and Alpha Centauri B.
This star system was first identified in 1689 when astronomers noticed two stars orbiting each other.
Get to know the Star Alpha Centauri Neighbors Sun
Alpha Centauri is a mysterious star system. Even some time ago there was the most ambitious mission in space exploration.
Stephen Hawking together with Russian billionaire Yuri Milner made the mission to find out about Alpha Centauri. The mission uses a mini nanocraft satellite.
Maybe there are still a lot of people who misunderstand about the Alpha Centauri star. Actually Alpha Centauri is not a single star in the universe.
More than that, Alpha Centauri is a star system that has three stars in it. The three stars are located close together and are of different types.
The faintest star in this star system is called Proxima Centauri. Proxima Centauri is a peacock dwarf star that is seven times smaller than the Sun.
Proxima Centauri only has 10% of the total mass of the Sun, but is 1.5 times as massive as the planet Jupiter.
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Meanwhile, the two lighter members are named Alpha Centauri A and B. The two form a binary system.
The distance of the second star is 23 times farther than the distance of the Earth to the Sun which reaches 150 million km.
Alpha Centauri Is Very Far Away
The faintest star, Proxima Centauri is 4.22 light-years from Earth. That is, it takes 4.22 years for humans to reach the speed of light.
While Alpha Centauri A and B are located further away, which is about 4.35 million light years from Earth.
Even the breakthrough that Stephen Hawking and his colleagues made would theoretically reach the star system after a 20-year journey.
Alpha Centauri’s distance from Earth makes no human being able to visit it. The Alpha Centauri star system itself can actually be seen with the naked eye.
Alpha Centauri will look like a point of light in the night sky. This star system can be seen in the southern part of the Earth.
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However, if you observe Alpha Centauri with a telescope, you will see the stars in it with a smaller size and light.
Alpha Centauri is Older than the Sun
Being a neighbor to the Sun, it turns out that Alpha Centauri has a much older age.
Alpha Centauri A is a yellow star similar to the Sun, but 25% larger.
The ages of Alpha Centauri A and two others range from 4.85 billion years. It is slightly older than the Sun which is only 4.6 billion years old.
Although older, but members of the star Alpha Centauri into the list of the brightest in the night sky. For example Alpha Centauri A which is ranked fourth.
Can Be An Alternative Place To Live After Earth?
In 2012, researchers announced that Alpha Centauri had an exoplanet inside. The surprising thing is that the exoplanet is similar to Earth.
The resemblance of exoplanets to Earth lies in their size. The planet was later named by researchers Alpha Centauri Bb.
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Like planet others, Alpha Centauri Bb too. The planet orbits the faintest star, Proxima Centauri, at a distance of 6 million kilometers.
This discovery finally made researchers think that the planet Alpha Centauri Bb could be a place of life other than Earth while opening the possibility that there are still many planets living and orbiting around.
Unfortunately, further research showed that the surface of the planet Alpha Centauri Bb was full of molten lava so that it could not live in life.
Actually, humans have known Alpha Centauri long before NASA discovered it with telescopes. The ancient Chinese recognized this star as the second star of the south gate.
While the Boorong tribe in Australia calls the star Alpha Centauri as Bermbermgle. Do not stop there, this type is also famous among Ancient Mexico. They even built a god temple parallel to the point of the Alpha Centauri horizon. (R10 / HR-Online / Editor-Ndu)
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